Armen Rustamyan: RPA will receive no majority in Parliament in 2017 if constitutional amendments are adopted

When substantiating their stand, the opponents of the constitutional reforms are distorting facts, because the current constitution, unlike the new draft constitution, gives more chances to the authorities to retain grip on power, Armen Rustamyan, Head of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Faction, said at a press conference in Yerevan.   

He thinks the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) will receive no absolute majority in Parliament in 2017 if the constitutional amendments are adopted. "During the previous parliamentary elections, the RPA received a majority of seats due to the majority voting system. The new draft constitution provides no such opportunity. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan clearly realizes this. Therefore, in his interview he expressed doubts about the RPA's victory," he said.      

For his part, Secretary of the ARFD Faction Aghvan Vardanyan pointed out that in his interview to the Armenian TV companies Serzh Sargsyan refuted all rumors about his intention to become the prime minister or the speaker.      

To recall, in his latest interview Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan suggested postponing all forecasts about his intention to become the prime minister or the speaker till the parliamentary elections of 2017. "It is not serious to speak of the intention to become the prime minister if there is no parliamentary majority," he said.